Mercerization



, ffiersisu'ch as cotton or linen have been inter- SAMUEL MANSFIELD JON'ES, OF NORTH ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO ARNOLD PRINT WORKS, OF NORTH ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

Patented June 8, 1.932%.

' nnacnnize'rron.

,34 39 I Specification of Letters Patent. I no Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL MANsFIELo JoNEs, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of North Adams, in the'county of Berkshire and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mercerization, of which the following is a description.

This invention particularly relates to a method of mercerizing cellulosic fibers of natural growth such as cotton or linen, when interwoven or intermingled with filaments ,of artificial silk known as viscose, while at just specified; but I have discovered that othermethods are available for accomplishing the like ultimate result,'and that among these is the method herein described which involves the modification of the caustic alkali solution used for mercerization by introducing into it carbolic acidotherwise known in chemical-nomenclature as phenol.

For ,the purpose of the present invention 1 find it practicallysatisfactory to compose the mercerizing liquid by adding phenol in the proportion of 50 grams to 950 grams of an aqueoussolution'of sodium hydrate at Twaddell. This proportion is not rigid; but'if the-,ratio of the quantity of phenol to that of the caustic alkali inisolution at the hydrometric density stated is much less than the ratio just indicated the viscose silk will not be adequately protected; and if such ratio is much greater the mercerizing efliciency of the caustic alkali thus modified will tend to become impaired.

Otherwise than such required modification of the mercerizing solution the treatment of L the fabric into-which mercerizable cellulosic ven with viscose-silk filaments is substantially'the same as that customarily'employed in the mercerization of'woven vfabrics composed entirely of cotton inclu' the usual means and mode of ap lying tGIlSlOIltllQI'QtO for the prevention of s rmkage.

The employment of aanercerizing solution of caustic alkali which has been modified by the addition thereto of phenol ashereinabove Application filed November 28, 1919. Serial No. 8411,5373.

; provided enables the process of mercerization to be successfully practised upon cellulosic fibers of natural growth such as cotton or linen, while at the same time the viscosesilk filaments interwoven with these are eil'ectively protected against injury from the caustic alkali; so that the resulting product is expeditiously obtained without incurring the. extra expense and labor required for separately mercerizing the cellulosic fibers in the yarn before interweaving the same with the viscose silk.

Manifestly also this invention although especially well adapted for the production of woven mixed goods of the kind hereinabove referred to, may likewise be practised upon yarns or other unwoven textile fabrics which are composed. partly of mercerizable cellu losic fibers such as cotton or linen and partly of viscose-silk filaments and which are sub jected to any well known and acceptable process of mercerization suitable for imparting luster to the cellulosic components of a fabric thus constituted; except only that in composed of mercerizable cellulosic fibers intermixed with artificial silk filaments of viscose, for the purpose of mercerizin'g such cellulosic fibers without injury to the visa cose silk, by subjecting the composite fabric thus constituted to a process of mercerization wherein the solution of caustic alkali is modified by the addition thereto of phenol.

2. The method of treating textile fabrics composed of yarn spun from. mercerizable cellulosic fibers and ihterwoven with artifi cial silk filaments of viscose for the purpose of mercerizing the fibers of such yarn withg out injury to the viscose silk, by subjecting the woven fabric thus constituted toa process of mercerization wherein the solution of caustic alkali is modified by the addition thereto of phenol- 3. The method of treating textile fabrics composed of cotton fibers intermixed with artificial silk filaments of viscose, for thepurpose of mercerizing such cotton fibers without injury to the viscose silk, by subjecting to a process of the composite fabric thus constituted;

mercerization wherein the solution of caustic alkali is modified by the addition thereto of phenol.

4. The method of treating textile fabrics compos tificial ed of cotton yarn lnterwoven with arsilk fi1aments of viscose for the pur- 

